There are a lot of things in life I’ll never hav to worry about; one of them is being the star of a hit television show. I haven’t figured out if that makes me lucky or not, but I’m certainly never going to have to worry about that. Being on top of the TV ratings has its ups and downs as anyone who’s been there would tell you. Balancing your own private life versus making gobs of money usually makes one long for the part that’s now missing. If I think about where I fit in that equation, I guess I’d have to say I’ve got tons of private life.

Paul Teutul Sr. and his band of merry men from Orange County Choppers have been on the air for what seems like an eternity, but are just starting a new season amid rumors of the Discovery Channel having a new CEO who supposedly did not want his channel to further be known as the Motorcycle Channel. There have been some actual casualties like the much loved, but not renewed, Biker Build Off series (Damn! Somebody pick this up.) and the word on the street was that OCC had only one year left on its contract with them. When I mentioned this to Paul Sr. he strongly, but politely, replied, “That’s not true at all. We just signed for three more years. Let me ask you, why would any network, I don’t care who they are, cancel its number one series? Hey, they kept us and Jesse’s Monster Garage and American Hot Rod, too. They’re not stupid, let me tell you.” (But can Paulie take it for three more years without resorting to violence or prolonged psycho therapy? Somehow I think he will or Whitney will have a little talk with him).

I commented that the show has changed a lot over the years and that he had seemingly made some serious changes in how OCC bikes were built. In the beginning, it seemed like they outsourced most of the actual parts and assembled the bikes adding their own special touches to finish them off.

“That’s because the only real heavy equipment we had when we started was a welder and shop tools. Since then I’ve made a big investment in machinery to build as much as we can right on the premises. These tools cost a lot of money and we didn’t have it then. It’s different now. We try and make everything in-house,” said Paul, Sr.

You could see the change in the show as there was no more waiting for gas tanks to arrive or custom wheel to be unwrapped and unveiled for the first time. Now you can see OCC’s engineer, Jim Quinn, cutting the wheels out in the spanking new Haas Automation machines from a forged aluminum wheel blank to a finished product with your own television eyes.

Speaking of personnel, there’s been a lot more characters like Jim added to the picture. Fabricator Rick Petko brought a whole new twist as someone with the talent and skills to fabricate complex custom gas tanks and more, thereby allowing everybody’s best friend and all around guy Vinnie to work with Paulie on design and fabbing.

OCC’s affable director of operations, Ron Salsbury, has created a good work atmosphere and controls things nicely behind the scenes. Lovably wacky, Jason Pohl spends serious computer time designing bikes and parts behind the scenes.

“It’s great having all these new people so we can concentrate on new ideas, which we have quite a few of for the future,” said Paul, Sr.

“We’re trying to do it all and some of the deals we’ve made, like the one with Sumax, which will allow us to do super chrome and powder coating in the future,” said Paul, Sr. further adding, “I could’ve retired from my steel business of 30 years, but I enjoy every bit of what we’re doing and more. It’s all about making good decisions now.”